Monkey Business Camp

«Every summer you guys went to camp together. I was jealous. Felt like he was the summer me.» George Costanza, Seinfeld
Review is for a off-​shoot camp: Girls on the Go!
Da Scene: 10 yr. old girl needs something to do in between vacations and camping trips this summer, while her parents toil away at their 9 – 5 careers. Enter «Girls on the Go!» summer camps in Berkeley and Oakland.
Da Service: Drop your kiddo off in the am at a local park for a day full activities from cheese tasting to martial arts, from A’s or Giants games to swimming at the community pool or checking out the many bay area museums. Pick up a tired kiddo at he same park.
Great communications, good variety of activities, super convenient and a happy kiddo to boot!

As my 4 year old shouted for weeks after camp: «Monkey — Business — Summer — Camp.» (along with a ton of other songs and cheers she sang all day). This is a great program, great staff, great activities, and amazing communication process as you prepare for camp. Kiddo is already planning to be a CIT when she’s old enough. In the meantime, I plan to work MBSC in to my summer planning for the foreseeable future.

I am writing this review as the mother of two boys who have been Counselors in Training (CITs) and Junior Counselors (JC) at Monkey Business for the past two years. These have been the best two summer camp experiences they have ever had — I have so many good things to say that it’s hard to summarize it all!
My sons (ages 12 & 15 the first year and ages 13 & 16 the second year) gained a tremendous amount of leadership experiences working as CIT/​JC at Monkey Business and had a wonderful time doing it. They spent their days with the younger campers, fully engaged in all the activities, which included field sports, arts and crafts, singing, short hikes, trips to the nearby zoo, and swim days at Lake Anza. The activities at Monkey Business are so well organized and at the same time they give the campers a lot of freedom. I loved watching the kids run around the field at Tilden Park — it is such a beautiful, open, natural setting for the camp.
The counselors (the paid staff who supervise the camp and manage the JC& CITs) are top notch. They are communicative, engaging, playful, supportive, enthusiastic and all around wonderful. They gave my boys great instruction about how to help the younger children, how to supervise and lead, and how to set up the crafts and activities. I honestly feel that my kids will be able to put these counselor in training experiences on their resumes since they have learned so many useful skills.
So whether you are considering the camp for your younger children to be campers, or your older children to be counselors in training, I highly recommend Monkey Business all the way around.

The best way to review Monkey Business is to share what my daughter (6 ½ year old) told me: «Dad, Monkey Business is my favorite camp».

This year we went from year round pre school to having to find summer camps for our kid. Friends recommended Monkey Business and we signed up for the entire summer. Our kid had a truly wonderful summer — it was nice to just give her a chance to play and run around all day and just be a kid. She loved all the counselors and we will be back next year.

My daughter has attended Monkey Business Camp since for spring/​winter breaks and summer camp since she was 4. The counselors (and CITs) are uniformly wonderful, and I always have been impressed (and grateful) for how well-​coordinated and organized the camp experience seems to be. They provide a really nice level of individual attention and care to kids, and the staff (on-​site and in the office) are always very responsive to parent questions, etc. I look forward to many more years to come of Monkey Business Camp for my daughter!

The staff at Monkey Business Camp is wonderful. I had a little guy who needed camp for 2 weeks. He was in their youngest group. I believe they are called the Papaya’s. I was of course nervous with my son being so young, 3.5, and going to camp. He also needs «additional assistance» and the camp was very accommodating with our ABA support person joining him at the camp. It’s February now and my son still sings the camp songs and asks when he can go again. Sure enough we will be joining the camp this summer!

The key things I look for in a camp are:
1) Quality of instructors — are they connected with the kids? Are they having fun themselves?
2) Atmosphere/​location — is it inspiring and fun? Something different?
3) Content — probably least important to me — it’s summer camp after all. Is there enough variety to keep my kid engaged? Not enough to make it feel like school? A variety of crafts/​sit-​down activities and active/​social/​sporting stuff?
My child (now 6) has gone to Monkey Business for 2 years (since she was 4) for several weeks each Summer. Above all, I have been amazed by the staff, and I’m always happy as we descend into Tilden for a day of good, honest play.

My son, William, loves Monkey Business Camp. He has attended winter break camp and summer camp, starting when he was five. He spent most of his summer break this year (8 years old) at the wonderful themed camps held up in Tilden Park. The counselors are great with the kids, and the camp days have a fun, but steady rhythm, so kids are comfortable, knowing how the day will go. There are open activities times, active field games, structured activities, quiet reading and journal time and songs and sharing built into each day; most weeks include at least one swim day at Lake Anza.

I was very excited to learn that this camp takes younger kids so my 4-​year-​old son could attend the same camp as his 7-​year-​old sister. Unfortunately, their location changed this year and their marketing materials did not make it clear (to me, anyway) that the younger kids would be in the (depressing) playroom of a church and the attached playground and would only be in Tilden Park for one day. This was a great disappointment as I was looking forward to my son attending his first outdoor camp.
Despite the location, my son enjoyed himself, but my 7-​year-​old was disappointed with the camp. It seems that they started a lot of projects, but finished none. Colored a journal, never wrote in it. Practiced a skit, never performed it. Created a bat, never learned the game that went with it. Their materials say that they mix planned with spontaneous, but it seems like the spontaneous took over and the planned went by the wayside. I like that they spent the entire time outdoors, but Sarah Science does the same thing and with greater focus.
Finally, although I recognize the importance of limiting our use of resources, I think that not letting young kids dry their hands with paper towels when it’s 55 degrees and foggy out just lacks common sense. It’s a lot easier to do art projects when your hands aren’t frozen stiff!

This is really a review for «Girls on the Go» run by Monkey Business– My daughter has been going for 3 years now. She has loved it every year. The excursions they chose are perfect for that age range. She looks forward to it EVERY summer! She meets new friends. She has a blast. It is reasonable. The hours are perfect if you work! The counselors are lovely ladies all very supportive and positive. I adored Stacey– (Director who passed) She was my camp counselor when I was a little kid!!- I also adore Heather and I know Heather has maintained the camp without her in such a wonderful way– I love her passion for the kids and this camp. Try it– your daughter will love it.

My daughter attended the Spring break Camp, and she loved it. So, I signed her up for a week of summer camp that had a theme she liked. That week was full, so I put myself on the waiting list way before the date that the price would increase. Sure enough, i was called 2 days after the price went up and told that there was a space for us, but we have to now pay the higher price. Because my daughter was so excited, I did it.
She was less than thrilled with the «theme» of the camp, which consisted of one day of dress-​up.
One day, when I picked her up, she was covered in dirt. I mean, it was all over her face. It turns out that she fell out of tree, hurt herself (cuts and bruises), and became covered in dirt. The counselors told her that she was «fine» and didn’t offer to look at her bruising/​cuts or to help her clean her face. other kids were laughing at her, and no counselor helped her. She was humiliated and didn’t want to return for the rest of the week. I double-​checked with the parent of another kid, and she confirmed the story. When I talked to the director, he apologized to me, adding that my daughter chose to jump out of the tree, which was against the rules. I asked him if they had a policy against administering first aid and comfort to a hurt child if they didn’t approve of the way that the child became hurt. No answer. He asked what I needed to make this all better, and i told him that I wanted the counselors to apologize to my daughter for not taking her seriously, and he agreed that this sounded logical. I also told him that I know my child can be a handful, and I hoped that this incident didn’t happen because the counselors don’t like her; every child, regardless of personality, should be treated with respect.
My daughter agreed to go back to camp 2 days later because I told her that the counselors were sorry for their part in this and would be apologizing. When I picked her up, she said she had a good day but that no counselor apologized to her.
I know that many people love this camp, but i will never be able to get the image out of my head of my child, face covered in dirt, crying about how humiliated she felt because kids were laughing at her and counselors didn’t attend to her when she was hurt/​dirty.

We’ve tried them all: I won’t name names but for my kids, this camp was always the the gold standard… the counselors, the fun activities, the ratios, and the beautiful sites. What my kids liked at Monkey Business Camp was the slow pace. Finally, they had come to a place where they weren’t rushed, where they could move slowly through their day. These folks know how to make the most simple activities fun: singing, tie dying, hiking, all the classics are given the time and loving attention they deserve.

Summer 2009 Review of Monkey Business Summer Camp — I sent my son (age 6) and daughter (age 9) to Monkey Business for 5 weeks last summer. I worried they would get bored at one place but it was just the opposite… they had the most awesome summer camp experience yet. They’ve been to quite a few including some others in Tilden Park but Monkey Business is the one they’ve loved the most.
Here’s some of what my kids had to say — the counsellors «were so sweet, fun, and loving»; they were «such a blast, really cool, good singers»; they were «the most friendly and fun people» and they «always made me feel at home and took really good care of me» …both kids said that the reason they liked it so much was because the counsellors actually talked to the kids like they genuinely liked being there with them… they do a GREAT job picking their staff. The only thing I would add would be that unlike some other camps nearby, the staff at Monkey B. try to not overly program the kids with constant activities, though there are many to choose from. The kids actually get to relax and have time to choose what they want to do. My kids did not want to be super-​structured and preferred self-​directed activity with the option of group activities. Hope this review is of some help.

This camp is absolutely amazing! My son has been attending for six years. For the past two of those years he has been a couselor in training.
They offer a wide variety of choices for activities. The kids can choose what they want to do and are not pressured to do anything they don’t like (except maybe wear sunscreen!). Being outdoors all day is a fantastic way to spend a summer. I often arrive early just to soak in some of the Tilden Park peacefulness.
As a Counselor In Training (CIT) my son is learing some valuable leadership skills. It has helped him learn about working with younger children and skills such as conflict resolution. He takes pride in having a «summer job». It is a great first step in responsibility for a pre-​teen.
The staff has been great every year. They plan so many fun activities, sing songs, tell stories and just make the kids feel loved. I have always felt comfortable leaving my son with them even when he was just seven years old. It is a very safe environment and the staff is trained to handle emergencies – big and small ones.
I can’t say enough about Monkey Business, the staff and the founders.

We were looking for somewhere to place our 7 year old daughter for a week or 2 during a busy summer that was close to home and where she could just have a ball in a safe and inclusive environment. Boy, did we pick right! Our daughter loved each and every counselor — including the counselors in training and got to know Tilden Park in a way our whole family is still reaping the benefits from and just enjoyed the heck out of herself. She made a camp buddy after only one week whom she still plays with. I can’t recommend this camp highly enough.

Four years of great camp experiences for my two young girls at Monkey Business. All around high marks for ability to nurture, embracing nature, and Berzerkeliness.
We’ve been to several 2-​week sessions in Tilden Park, and also some one-​week camps offered during the school year breaks. Consistently high-​quality staff, with many long-​term people like Marcus, whom we love love love. These people are enthusiastic to see my shy kids, and are kind to them all day long, so that even though they’re not the most outgoing, they feel they belong.
One day this summer, I dropped them off at 8:30 am to soft Ukulele music, giant bubbles, and Marcus, with bones through his ears, greeting them by name. Peace, Berkeley style.

After reading Kimberly’s review, I had to put in my stars for this camp as well. While I didn’t send my daughter to the «Monkey Business» side of the camp, I sent her to their off-​shoot called «Girls On The Go» for girls only age 9 – 12.
If we weren’t living in Danville, my daughter would be going to GOTG this summer. She went last summer and loved it. This camp is in 2 week sessions. They meet in a park, do activities, games and regular camp stuff (songs, cheers, bonding things, etc), and then every single day, they go on a field trip of sorts via foot, bus, BART, etc. The field trips vary, but the session my daughter went to she toured Scharfenberger (sp?), CAL, they saw a play in WC, they went to ZUEM, and a baseball game along with a few other places.
This is a camp that empowers girls. This camp ROCKS and thanks again Kimberly for reminding me that if you are lucky, great teachers sometimes also ‘moonlight’ at great camps which allows for an even better experience.

Can’t believe this hasn’t yet been reviewed. It should definitely be in a Best of Berkeley. As a teacher, I don’t get paid during the summer, unless I opt to reduce my already minuscule paycheck to even less in order to spread it out over 12 months instead of 9. So I look for summer work, and this year I found Monkey Business.
I can’t yet say what it would be like to be here as a camper, because my son has never been, but I am awestruck by the care these people take to make sure their employees are prepared to work with children. You must have your first aid & CPR up to date, natch, which means 2 days of all-​day class. Then you have a leadership workshop, so that you can handle not only children, but also the younger counselors & CIT’s — all day, again. After that come 3 full days, 9 hours each, of training in non-​violent communication, games & songs, bias awareness, logistics, and more, and finally a day on site to scope out potential problems and general setup. The most remarkable part of this is that you are paid full salary for all of this training.
The equipment is top notch, every box for every art project clearly labeled with all ingredients for the task and clear instructions inside. There are clipboards, curriculum sheets, plenty of writing implements, games, balls, everything is pristine and conscious. The women who began the camp love, love, LOVE the kids, and are all about spreading love, environmental consciousness, and respect into the community.
I am absolutely honored to be a part of this particular group, with counselors and site directors who are every bit as evolved and wonderful as the founders. If you haven’t sent your child to Monkey Business Summer Camp before, check it out!